Berth system, especially for means of transportation

ABSTRACT

A berth arrangement, especially for means of transport, is described, comprising a plurality of single berths ( 1 ) which are arranged in rows in a successive, superimposed and mutually offset fashion and receive at least one reclining seat ( 6 ), and which berths form a sitting room ( 2 ) and a foot room ( 3 ) starting out from the sitting room ( 2 ), with the height of the foot room being smaller than the sitting room height. In order to provide advantageous constructional conditions it is provided that the respective ceilings ( 5 ) and floors ( 4 ) of the sitting rooms ( 2 ) correspond to the negative shapes of the floors ( 10 ) and ceilings ( 9 ) of the foot space ( 3 ).

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Applicant claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 of Austrian ApplicationNo. A 1794/2000 filed Oct. 19, 2000. Applicant also claims priorityunder 35 U.S.C. §365 of PCT/AT01/00330 filed Oct. 15, 2001. Theinternational application under PCT article 21(2) was not published inEnglish.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to a berth arrangement, especially for means oftransport, with a plurality of single berths which are arranged in rowssuccessively, above each other and mutually offset and receive at leastone reclining seat, and which berths form a sitting room and a footspace starting out from the sitting room whose height is smaller thanthe sitting room height.

RELATED ART

In order to offer passengers the possibility to lie down by taking thegenerally restricted space in means of transport it is known (U.S. PatNo. 4,745,643 A) to situate berths which are made of plastic for examplein rows one after the other or above each other. Said berths which arequadrangular and each receive one reclining seat are provided with aheight adjusted to a lying passenger, so that the individual berths canmerely be used as sleeping berths and are not suitable for the presenceof passengers outside of the sleeping periods. In order to avoid thisdisadvantage it has already been proposed (DE 36 11 671 A1) to arrange aframe forming sleeping berths in such a way that after a reconfigurationseating arrangements for the passengers are provided, namely with asufficient room height. This is achieved in such a way that by analternating putting up of a part of the berth floor the berths aresubdivided in the longitudinal center, thus leading to a berth sectionof half the length but double height due to the floor open alternatinglyon both sides. As a consequence, space is provided in these sections foran upright sitting position. The disadvantageous aspect in such aconstruction is on the one hand the necessity of reconfiguration, forwhich purpose the passengers need to leave the berths, and on the otherthe fact that after the reconfiguration only half the berth length isavailable.

Finally, it is known (U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,354 A) to provide berths witha sitting room and a foot space starting out from the sitting room whoseheight corresponds to half the sitting room height. Said single bertharrangement enables a mutually offset arrangement of single berths aboveeach other, with the foot spaces which come to lie above each othersupplement each other in pairs to a sitting room height. Although thusachievable interleaving of the single berths allows a favorableutilization of space, it still produces a mutually opposite alignment ofthe single berths which lie above each other with their foot spaces.This leads in a berth arrangement in the traveling direction to theconsequence that half the single berths thus interleaved are providedwith reclining seats which are aligned in the direction opposite to thetraveling direction. An additional factor is that the sitting roomheight cannot be chosen independent from the foot room height.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention is thus based on the object of configuring a bertharrangement of the kind mentioned above with simple constructional meansin such a way that a uniform alignment of all single berths is enabledunder an advantageous utilization of space and the sitting room heightcan be chosen independent from the foot room height in order to provideboth advantageous lying as well as sitting conditions for the user.

The invention achieves this object in such a way that the respectiveceilings and floors of the sitting rooms correspond to the negativeshapes of the floors and ceilings of the foot space.

Since as a result of this measure the foot and sitting rooms of thesingle berths arranged above each other come to lie alternatingly one ontop of the other, the sitting and foot rooms situated alternatinglyabove each other determine the overall height of the berth arrangement.The sitting room height and the foot room height can be determinedindependently from each other. This provides advantageous conditions inorder to offer sufficient space for upright sitting in the sitting roomof the single berths, which thus only allows a pleasant sojourn in thesingle berths beyond the sleeping time. Despite the comparatively largesitting room height, the overall height of the berth arrangement can bekept comparatively low because the foot room height can be providedrespectively low. As a result of the possible large sitting room height,the single berths can not only be equipped in a variety of waysaccording to the needs of the berth users, but can provide the reclininguser with a sense of well-being that can hardly be impaired by users ofadjacent berths due to the then large free space up to the ceiling ofthe sitting room.

The mutual adjustment of the progress of the floor and ceiling in theregion of the sitting and foot rooms ensures a favorable utilization ofthe berth arrangement on the one hand and entails a stiffening of theberth arrangement on the other hand, which in view of the weightlimitation usually applied in means of transport is of relevantimportance. The direct connection of the single berths placed above eachother in the floor and ceiling regions is not mandatorily required. Itis possible to provide measures for additional storage space between theindividual berths by ensuring a different shape of the floors andceilings of the individual berths which are mutually adjacent withrespect to their height.

The shaping of the foot space can be provided in different forms withrespect to the different reclining postures. Especially advantageousconditions can be obtained in this connection when the foot room of theindividual berths is provided with a distance above the floor and belowthe ceiling of the sitting room of the individual berths, preferably inthe region of the middle third of the sitting room height, because inthis case an advantageous elevation of the legs while lying is enforcedby the foot room.

Due to their arraying behind one another and above each other, theaccess to the individual berths must occur from the side. For thispurpose the individual berths can be provided with access openings atleast on one longitudinal side in the region of the sitting room. Singleberths for a single user merely require access openings on alongitudinal side. If wider individual berths for two users areprovided, access openings are recommended on either longitudinal side inorder to make the independent entry and exit easier for the users.

The access to the access openings can be facilitated by means of variousclimbing aids such as ladders. An especially advantageous constructioncan be obtained in this connection when the individual berths areprovided in the region of their foot rooms with a narrower taperingarrangement towards the end of the feet, so that the ceilings of thesitting rooms in the region of the narrower end of the single berthsituated above lead to a bearing surface which can be used like steps.The use of the climbing aid can be facilitated by providing respectivehandles on the side walls of the individual berths.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Examples of the subject matter of the invention are shown in thedrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a berth arrangement in accordance with the invention in aschematic side view, and

FIG. 2 shows the same berth arrangement in sections in a horizontallongitudinal sectional view.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The represented berth arrangement is made up of single berths 1 whicheach form a sitting room 2 and a foot room 3 starting out from the same,namely according to the embodiment for two persons. The arrangement ismade in such a way that the foot room 3 above the floor 4 and below theceiling 5 of the sitting room 2 is connected to the sitting room 2 inthe region of the middle third of the sitting room height. As a resultof this foot room arrangement, an advantageous lying position isachieved for the berth user, as is indicated by the dot-dash line in asingle berth 1. From the lying position it is possible to assume aseated position, for the purpose of which the installed reclining seats6 must be adjusted accordingly, such that a part of the reclining seat 6is swiveled upwardly as a back-rest, as has also been entered in adot-dash line for a sitting user. In this sitting position it ispossible to swivel out a table surface 7 or use additional fixtures.Various fixtures of the single berth 1 can be used advantageously bothin the reclined as well seated position, as is indicated for a screen 8.

As is indicated in FIG. 1, the floors 4 and the ceilings 5 of thesitting rooms 2 each correspond to the negative shapes of the ceilings 9and the floors 10 of the foot rooms 3, so that the individual berths 1can be arranged in rows without any gaps in a mutually offset manner.The individual berths 1 can each individually form a modular unit orhave common intermediate walls which lead on the one hand to the ceiling9 of a foot room 3 and on the other hand to the floor 4 of the sittingroom 2 or the ceiling 5 of the sitting room 2 and the floor 10 of thefoot room 3 of individual berths 1 stacked above each other. The spaceremaining below the lowermost row of berths can advantageously be usedas storage space 11 in a respectively subdivided fashion.

The access to the individual berths 1 occurs via access openings 12which are provided with handles 13. As is shown in FIG. 2, accessopenings 12 are provided at either side of the individual berths 1 inorder to allow the mutually unimpeded entrance to and exit from of acommon single berth 1 for two users. One of the two access openings 12can be omitted for single berths for receiving merely one user. Ladderscan be used as a climbing aid for entering the upper single berths 1.When the foot rooms 3 are provided with an arrangement tapering towardsthe foot end as is shown in FIG. 2, surface regions are obtained whichcan advantageously be used as bearing surfaces 14 as a result of thefoot rooms 3 of the stacked single berths 1 which stand back relative tothe ceilings 5 of the respective lower single berths 1 or storage spaces11.

As a result of the berth arrangement in accordance with the invention acompact, comparatively light construction is obtained which can be usedin means of transport for receiving passengers in single berths 1. Thesize and arrangement of the single berths 1 can be adapted to spatialconditions. The possibilities for use are not limited to means oftransport, because such a berth arrangement may be potentially usedwherever a plurality of persons are to be accommodated with little spacein a manner which substantially excludes any mutual disturbance of theusers of the berth arrangement.

1. A berth arrangement comprising successive rows of berths, the berthsin alternating ones of the successive rows being offset from each otherand the berths in succeeding ones of the rows being superimposed on theberths of rows preceding the succeeding rows, each berth having at leastone reclining seat and defining a sitting room and a foot space betweena floor and a ceiling, the sitting room being higher than the footspace, the ceilings of sitting rooms of the berths in the preceding rowsforming the floors of the foot spaces of the berths in the succeedingrows.
 2. The berth arrangement of claim 1, wherein the foot space ofeach berth is arranged at a distance above the floor and below theceiling of the sitting room.
 3. The berth arrangement of claim 2,wherein the distance is in a middle third of the height of the sittingroom.
 4. The berth arrangement of claim 1, wherein each berth has anaccess opening to the sitting room at least at one longitudinal sidethereof.
 5. The berth arrangement of claim 1, wherein the foot spaces ofthe berths are tapered to narrow towards a foot end of the foot spaces,and the ceilings of the sitting rooms form a bearing surface at the footend of the foot spaces of the superimposed berths.